2017-06-11

Politics

I can't help feeling that it would be the time to blog something about the current political situation.

The problem I have is that I really have no bloody idea what the hell is going on. Am I alone? Does Theresa May have any more clue? This is not a lack of news sources, but a lack of any sanity in what seems to be going on.

I was shocked at the idea of the DUP in a coalition with Tories - it made no sense, and now we hear it is probably breaking Good Friday agreement (sounds plausible), and then that non English votes will not help for much of the English laws Theresa May would like to enact (also sounds plausible).

We have the constant attack on the Internet as the cause, or enablers, of terrorist attacks. Not roads. Not white vans. Not pink ceramic knives from Lidl. No, attack the Internet! The only reason the Internet is involved is because it is the current sensible way to communicate. IRA managed quite well before the Internet. If we did not have it, we would be seeing political attacks on the telephone or postal services being used. It is nonsense, and stupid. Someone needs to tackle the issues and the reasons for the attacks happening in the first place, not how they happen!

We have this crazy "who actually won" discussion because of the hung parliament.

We have the "Made a deal with DUP" and "Starting discussion next week with DUP" - maybe even misleading the Queen (treason?).

In many ways, having an effective opposition that can challenge the more extreme views of the government, and only pass laws we all agree on, is a good idea. Sadly that would not revoke some of the recent nasty laws either.

I am shocked that Theresa May is still in charge, and expect that to change soon. Seriously, are they going to have to physically manhandle her out of number 10? Has she learned the stubbornness from Trump?

I was not surprised Trump chickened out - the threats of a lot of people mooning him, I think. Or has he, or is the trip postponed until after the impeachment, or what? Hard to be sure. Conflicting news on that one too.

All I can say is that now we don't have Batman to save us - is all hope lost?

Given the maths, the fact that Sinn Fein don't even turn up, and the fact that LD have said no coalition, no confidence and supply....

This is the only viable outcome for now. Id expect another election soon though.

EVEL won't matter, Tories have a strong majority in England.

Hopefully May will resign and be replaced (possibly at the Tory party conference in October) and then we'll have another GE.

Perhaps someone like Boris or Ruth Davidson will take over the Tory party. I'm not really a fan of either but both would campaign better than May did. I'd say she lost this GE more than Corbyn won it, so that may well result in a Tory majority.

The clock is ticking on the Brexit negotiations. We do not have time for either a conservative party leadership election or yet another general election. We need to get on with it with the people in place now. Personally I'd rather we stayed in the EU, but doing nothing won't make that happen. The DUP demands for a soft border in Ireland may get a semblance of sanity out of this.

She definitely 'lost it' by giving 7 weeks' notice, instead of aligning the GE with the local elections. She obviously thought she could take a holiday and watch Corbyn shoot himself in the foot. Not only IT illiterate, she clearly lacks political judgement.

The irony is that it might actually have been the best time for May to have held the election- had she held on until 2020 with possibly a bad Brexit deal freshly signed she might have done even worse.

However it was the *wrong* time to hold an election and it blew up spectacularly, as with Remain the campaign was abysmal - perhaps due to overconfidence, perhaps poor advice; probably both.

The last thing the country needs is another Tory party leadership battle and another unelected PM. At least the one legitimate concern (the lack of a popular mandate) has been addressed as the Tories did at least win the popular vote, if not a majority.

We need another general election even less.

But the DUP are a conundrum - and as mad as a box of frogs - let us not forget the role they played in the fact that the power sharing agreement is currently suspended. I genuinely don't know which way they are likely to affect negotiations.

But the EU know May is on the ropes, especially with the issue of the UK Eire border. It could easily be that the EU negotiators will say "no special treatment for that border - if you want free movement of goods and people there you have it everywhere" and make us pay dearly to remain within the EEA.

But Labour are no better - Corbyn admittedly performed in excess of expectations but against a backdrop of the most incompetent Conservative campaign in living history he still lost. I don't agree that his budget was fully costed either.

"I am shocked that Theresa May is still in charge, and expect that to change soon. Seriously, are they going to have to physically manhandle her out of number 10?"If memory serves correctly, Heath had similarly to be dragged screaming from No.10 after the 1974 election had left a hung parliament. He (wrongly) assumed the backing of the DUP and tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a coalition with Thorpe's Liberal party, even though Labour had won a few more seats that the Conservatives. Heath's puerile refusal to give up power didn't last long and Wilson eventually formed a minority government. I don't expect May to survive past next week.

I agree, you're probably right because of the extra seats but I was more comparing the sociopathic personalities of both leaders, convinced of their own innate right to power, regardless of the country's best interests.

But... she seems to have changed her tune a bit. It astonishes me that the woman who triggered Cameron's not-very-seriously-attempted rebrand of the Tories by noting that it was known as the "nasty party" has turned it into, well, *this*. I don't know anyone under 50 who thinks of the Tories as anything but the party in favour of banning everything. How did a free-market party turn into this? (Maybe it was her exceptionally long stint at the Home Office. Something about that post seems to turn everyone who occupies it into fascists instantly.)

I am glad someone else agrees with me that the only sensible thing to ban, in the light of current terrorist tactics, is vans. Instead of "no unbreakable encryption" we need "no vans except for builders".

Of course, it is immediately obvious to everyone (even the civil servants in the Home Office) that that would be both unacceptable and ineffective (after all it is very easy for a terrorist to steal a van). Just like banning VPNs, websites and encryption.

I find it ironic (and amusing) that after all the interminable Corbyn smears about talking to PIRA (at the same time the tory govt was doing the same) the tories have got into bed with the political arm of an ACTIVE terrorist organisation.

Never mind the fact the DUP's beliefs belong in the middle ages, what concerns me is the fact they meet with the leadership of the UDA (and others).

The UDA in case you're unaware murdered (shot) someone in a supermarket car park on 29 May - THIS YEAR! Arlene Foster met the UDA after that date to discuss "policy" so she's clearly aware what happened & has no problem with it.

So its OK if they're "our terrorists" is it? Tories seem to think so but the tories are utterly facile.

I think its fucking outrageous - if it was SF instead of the DUP then tory England would be up in arms!

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